Forrestania Resources Limited (ASX:FRS) has unveiled plans for drilling programmes at the company’s flagship Forrestania Project in Western Australia.
Following the receipt of requisite approvals the company is planning to drill four target areas including:
• Giant Pegmatite, targeting extensions of a previous discovery of 34m @ 3.1% Li2O from 68m
• Gemcutter, targeting extensions to historic pegmatite and lithium intercepts, beneath the Gem Mine
• Bounty East, drilling across the major tantalum anomaly zone, on a line which has not previously been drilled, only 6km east of the world class Mt Holland lithium mine
• South Iron Cap East, testing the prospect identified in April, which includes an anomalous tantalum in soil zone of over 2.5km in length with a pegmatite outcrop, located less than one km the to east of IGO’s South Iron Cap drill intercept where 50.6m @ 0.95% Li2O was recorded from a nickel focussed drill hole
“Today’s announcement is significant marking the receipt of final approvals to drill the highly prospective Giant Pegmatite where a historic drillhole intercepted 34m @ 3.1% Li2O,” Chairman and Interim CEO, John Hannaford, said.
“We are also planning to drill test other high quality prospects including South Iron Cap East, which is a significant, undrilled target given its proximity to IGO’s South Iron Cap lithium discovery. Along with other planned drill targets the company will have a very active drilling programme to start to 2023.”
An RC drill programme of approximately 5,000m has been scheduled for January 2023.
Drilling is planned to test lithium targets at South Iron Cap East, Gemcutter, the Giant Pegmatite and Bounty East prospects.
A new Programme of Work (POW) approval was received for the Gemcutter and Giant Pegmatite targets on 14 December 2022, which means that POW approval has now been received for all targets. In addition, drill rig availability has been confirmed for mid-January 2023.
The company is particularly excited to be undertaking maiden drilling programmes at South Iron Cap East and the Giant Pegmatite.
South Iron Cap East
South Iron Cap East is a Company-generated target which is defined by an outcropping pegmatite within a strong tantalum in soil anomaly2 and is located within 1km of IGO’s (formerly Western Areas) South Iron Cap lithium occurrence. South Iron Cap historically returned 50.6m @ 0.95% Li2O 3 from a nickel focussed drill hole.
Giant Pegmatite
The Giant Pegmatite was drilled by Marindi Metals in 2016 and returned the best result of 34m @ 3.1% Li2O.The true thickness of the pegmatite was later established to be between five and 10m. The company plans to test the body of the pegmatite along strike and down dip to define the extent of the mineralisation.
Preliminary maiden lithium drilling programmes were completed at both Gemcutter and Bounty East in November. However, recent POW approvals, have allowed a second drilling programme that enables more effective targeting of each prospect.
Gemcutter
At Gemcutter, a newly approved POW enables extensive targeting beneath the Gem Mine where historically logged pegmatite intercepts returned anomalous lithium. Interpretation and modelling of the historic pegmatite intercepts suggest that the pegmatite is still open down dip to the north, west and south of the logged pegmatites.
Bounty East
At Bounty East, several pegmatites were intercepted in the maiden lithium programme completed in November. The new POW approval provides access to the central part of a strong tantalum geochemical anomaly and is interpreted to be the optimal position to target and follow up on the returned pegmatite intercepts.
Next Steps
Forrestania is engaging with drilling contractors to confirm timing for the upcoming RC drill programme. Multiple workstreams continue to be progressed by the company, including regional soil sampling, heritage surveys and environmental surveys.
As these workstreams progress, additional targets are anticipated to be generated and available for drilling.
Forrestania Resources is excited be kicking the year off with an extensive lithium targeted drilling programme over some of the Company’s high priority targets at the Forrestania Project and we look forward to keeping our shareholders updated with results.
For further information please visit: https://forrestaniaresources.com.au/
